Villopoto Tops Toronto Qualifying

By Larry Lawrence | 3/23/2013 3:22 PM

Series leader Ryan Villopoto kept his momentum going this afternoon by topping timed qualifying at the Toronto Supercross. Villopoto clocked a lap of 57.215 seconds on this Monster Energy Kawasaki. That placed him nearly 4-10ths of a second faster than Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart, who went 57.429. Justin Barcia was third fastest with a 57.533 aboard his Team Honda Muscle Milk entry. Former Toronto winner Ryan Dungey was fourth with a 57.803 on his Red Bull KTM. He was the one rider among the frontrunners to earn his best time in the first session. Davi Millsaps was the only other rider in the 57s. He turned in a 57.967 on his Rockstar Energy Drink Suzuki.

Villopoto, who is the defending race winning in Toronto, comes into this weekend’ race riding a three-race winning streak, which has pushed him into a nine point lead over former series leader Millsaps, who is still trying to regain the form he showed earlier in the season. Dungey, who has been surging with a pair of runner-up finishes in the last two rounds, is the only other rider with a realistic shot at catching Villopoto.

This marks the fifth time this season that Villopoto has topped timed qualifying season. That’s second only to Stewart, who has set the bar in practice six times this season. Reed, and Stewart join Dungey and Villopoto as past Toronto Supercross winners. Barcia is a two-time winner in the 250 class.

In the 250 class it was Wil Hahn breaking through to earn the top spot in timed qualifying for the first time this season. Hahn rode his GEICO Honda to a best lap of 58.913. Rockstar Energy Suzuki’s Blake Wharton was just a blink of an eye behind with a 58.963. Indy winner Marvin Musquin went 59.975 to round out the top three.

Wharton is eager to make up for a lost opportunity from last weekend in Indy, where he led the entire race, only to crash and then cut the track and be docked on the final lap. Musquin is hoping for a third win in a row, which could close the gap even further in his quest to catch Hahn in the series standings.

One thing is certain tonight will mark a fist time Toronto 250 class winner, since none of the riders in the field have won here before.

Broadcast coverage of the 12th race of the 2013 season will air live on SPEED, tonight beginning at 7:30 p.m.